Printing presses



Jan. 7, 1964 L. HARDING PRINTING PRESSES Filed Jan. 24, 1962 United States Patent 3,116,687 PRINTING PRESSES Leonard Harding, Gladstone Road, East Croydon, Surrey, England Filed Jan. 24, 1962, Ser. No. 168,342 3 Claims. (Cl. 101-269) This invention concerns a printing press, more particularly a printers proofing press, presenting a bed for supporting a printing surface, runways on the bed, a carriage reciprocable above the bed, a shaft having eccentric end portions journalled in the carriage, rollers on the eccentric end portions engaging the runways, an impression cylinder rotatably mounted on said shaft, and a lever having limited turning movement about at least one of said eccentric ends for effecting partial rotation of the shaft followed by displacement of the carriage over the bed.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved and simplified press construction which will permit the effective height of the impression cylinder to be rapidly adjusted.

To the attainment of this object the invention provides in a press as aforesaid the combination with an Oldham type drive coupling between at least one of the rollers and the impression cylinder, of means for adjusting the height of the impression cylinder with respect to the bed, said means comprising a handwheel fixed on the eccentric end of the shaft adjacent the lever, and a member locking the handwheel to the lever and releasable at will to permit turning movement of the shaft.

Preferably the handwheel has a circumferential slot, and the releasable locking member is a threaded pin extending through the slot with its inner end portion fixed to the lever while its outer end carries a locking nut for engaging the outer surface of the handwheel. The periphery of the handwheel may bear graduations readable against a fixed index.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a machine showing the roller frame at one end of the press, FIG. 2 is an end elevation in part section through the impression roller and the bushing at one end, and FIG. 3 is a section through the line 33 of FIG. 2.

In the drawings, 1 denotes an impression cylinder consisting of a rubber sleeve surrounding a metal tube 2 fitted at each end to a bushing 3 mounted on a shaft 4 the end portions 5 of which are reduced in diameter and are eccentric with respect to the axis of the shaft 4. The end portions 5 are supported in bushings 6 mounted in a carriage 7 which provided a support for the cylinder 1. 8 denotes rollers mounted on the end portions 5, the rollers 8 being movable along runways 9 presented by the bed of the press which presents a ledge 10 the under surface of which is engaged by rollers 11 mounted in the carriage 7. 12 denotes a handwheel fixed to one of the eccentric ends 5 by a screw 12A. 13 denotes a locking nut on a pin 13A penetrating a circumferential slot 14 in the handwheel 12, the inner end of the pin being fixed to one of two levers 15 mounted on the bushings 6 and connected to one another by a bar 16. This arrangement, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, forms an Oldham type drive coupling between the roller 8 and the cylinder 1 with the eccentric end portion 5 of the shaft 4 extending through the opening 18 in the plate 17. 17 denotes a plate mounted within a recess in each roller 8 and formed with a central aperture 18 and radial slots 19 engaged by pins 20, 21 projecting respectively from the bushing 3 and the roller -8 22 denotes one of two abutments presented by one of the levers 15, and 23 denotes a stop in 3,116,687 Patented Jan. 7, 1964 the form of a pin fixed to the carriage 7 between the abutments 22.

In practice, the machine is initially set by loosening the nut 13 and the screw 12A, thus freeing the handwheel 12 on the associated eccentric end portion 5, swinging the levers 15 to the extreme position they will occupy when the carriage is performing the return stroke with the roller I raised as determined by engagement of the appropriate abutment 22 with the pin 23, tightening the screw 12A to fix the handwheel 12 to the eccentric end portion 5 and using the handwheel 12 for rotating the eccentric end portions 5 until the shaft 4, in performing an orbiting action about the axis of the end portions 5, raises the roller 1 carried thereby to a predetermined height above the form, loosening the screw 12A and rotating the handwheel 12 on the associated end portion 5 until a mark of the scale 24 on the handwheel indicating the type high setting registers with a datum line 25 on the adjacent lever 15, tightening the screw 12A to lock the handwheel 12 to the associated end portion 5, then tightening the nut 13 to lock the handwheel 12 to the adjacent lever 15.

To pull a proof from a form resting on the bed of the machine the carriage 7 is moved to the starting position if it is not already there, a sheet of paper is laid over the form and the carriage 7 is moved along the bed of the machine towards the form by applying a force in the appropriate direction to the bar 16. When force is applied in this direction to the bar 16 the first action is to cause the levers 15 to swing and the handwheeel 12 locked thereto to perform a partial rotational movement which, communicated to the eccentric ends 5 of the shaft 4, causes the eccentric ends 5 to perform an orbital movement which is communicated to the shaft 4 and thus to the cylinder 1 thereby causing the cylinder 1 to move downwardly until the respective abutment 22 on the particular lever 15 comes against the stop pin 23. Further movement of the bar 16 causes the carriage 7 to move bodily forward while riding on the rollers S, the cylinder 1 then pressing the sheet of paper against the form. When the cylinder 1 has cleared the form a force in the reverse direction is applied to the bar 16, the levers 15 swing in the reverse direction and cause the shaft 4 and the cylinder 1 to orbit in the reverse direction so that the roller 1 is raised clear of the form. Further force applied in the same direction to the bar 16 causes the carriage 7 to return to the starting position. As the rollers 8 revolve in contact with the runways 9 the pins 21 communicate the rotational movement of the rollers 8 to the plate 17 and the rotational movement of the plate 17 is communicated by the pins 213 to the bushings 3 and thus to the cylinder 1. The cylinder 1 is thus positively driven by the rollers 8 as the carriage 7 moves along the runways 9, the pins 20 and 21 moving radially in the slots 19 in the plate 17.

A feature of this machine is that it is entirely automatic in its operation while, by means of the handwheel 12, the maximum height of the cylinder 1 is adjustable. Also, during operation of the machine, the cylinder 1 is raised and lowered within precise limits of movement by engagement of the abutments 22 with the pin 23 thus ensuring a uniform printing pressure. The machine is virtually foolproof in use in that the carriage 7 is moved by applying a force in the appropriate direction to the bar 16 and this force communicated to the levers 15 swings the levers to cause the cylinder to move automatically to the raised or lowered position according to the direction in which the carriage is being moved.

\Vhat is claimed is:

1. In a printing press presenting a bed for supporting a printing surface, runways on said bed, a carriage re ciprocable above said bed, a shaft having eccentric end portions journalled in said carriage, rollers on said eccentric end portions engaging said runways and supporting said carriage, an impression cylinder rotatably mounted on said shaft, a lever mounted on and having limited turning movement about one of said eccentric ends for effecting partial rotation of said shaft thereby effecting displacement of said carriage over said bed, the combination with a positive drive coupling between at least one of said rollers and said cylinder, of means for adjusting the height of the said cylinder with respect to said bed, said means comprising a handwheel fixed on said eccentric end portion of the shaft adjacent said lever, and a member locking said handwheel to said lever and releasable at will to permit turning movement of said shaft.

2. A printing press as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said handwheel is provided with a circumferential slot, and that said releasable locking member comprises a pin extending through said slot with its inner end fixed to said lever, and means for releasably securing said pin to said handwheel.

3. A printing press as claimed in claim 2, characterized by including means on said handwheel registrable with a datum means on the adjacent lever for indicating a specific height of said cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,352,953 Grundy Sept. 14, 1920 1,627,663 Morse May 10, 1927 1,638,544 Morse Aug. 9, 1927 1,842,086 Hartley Jan. 19, 1932 1,858,651 Weide May 17, 1932 

1. IN A PRINTING PRESS PRESENTING A BED FOR SUPPORTING A PRINTING SURFACE, RUNWAYS ON SAID BED, A CARRIAGE RECIPROCABLE ABOVE SAID BED, A SHAFT HAVING ECCENTRIC END PORTIONS JOURNALLED IN SAID CARRIAGE, ROLLERS ON SAID ECCENTRIC END PORTIONS ENGAGING SAID RUNWAYS AND SUPPORTING SAID CARRIAGE, AN IMPRESSION CYLINDER ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, A LEVER MOUNTED ON AND HAVING LIMITED TURNING MOVEMENT ABOUT ONE OF SAID ECCENTRIC ENDS FOR EFFECTING PARTIAL ROTATION OF SAID SHAFT THEREBY EFFECTING DISPLACEMENT OF SAID CARRIAGE OVER SAID BED, THE COMBINATION WITH A POSITIVE DRIVE COUPLING BETWEEN AT LEAST ONE OF SAID ROLLERS AND SAID CYLINDER, OF MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE HEIGHT OF THE SAID CYLINDER WITH RESPECT TO SAID BED, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A HANDWHEEL FIXED ON SAID ECCENTRIC END PORTION OF THE SHAFT ADJACENT SAID LEVER, AND A MEMBER LOCKING SAID HANDWHEEL TO SAID LEVER AND RELEASABLE AT WILL TO PERMIT TURNING MOVEMENT OF SAID SHAFT. 